Virtuoso Fantasia
by phoenixreal
Summary: Blake Sterling, also known as DJ Black Star, is doing well for himself. Celebrating an award, he throws a house party with elite guests in the city of Santa Muerta, California. His childhood friend Maka comes and while he's in the booth, she sees a young man being manhandled by a woman. In short order, Blake finds himself with a drugged virtuoso pianist. Black StarXSoul, Yaoi/Slash
1. Black Star

Virtuoso Fantasia

Chapter One

The Black Star

 _FANTASIA - A musical piece in which the composer has not been bound to any conventional form_

VIRTUOSO - In music a highly gifted and technically adept concert artist.

Blake Sterling was excited. Of course, Blake was always excited as a general rule. However, today he was extremely excited. Tsubaki Nakatsukasa was having a hard time keeping up with him.

"Blake!" she yelled as she chased him across the open room where the dancing would take place.

"Tsubaki, what is it?" he said as he turned and grinned at her. "I'm ready to get the booth set up. I still haven't gotten everything the way I like it. The Black Star never delivers a less than huge production!" he said, practically bouncing with excitement.

Tsubaki sighed. "Blake, I know you're looking forward to this. But seriously, we need to make sure that all the paperwork for the appearance at Death City next week is arranged! It's Friday, and if we don't have it done by five, we're going to lose the spot!"

Blake sighed. "Fine," he grumbled and sat down to finish filling it out.

Blake Sterling, or Black Star as he was known in the music scene, was perhaps one of the most well renowned DJs in the area. Blake had been born to wealth, the heir to the Sterling family fortune. Early on, though, rather than interest in business or enterprise, he showed aptitude for music and DJing in particular. His musical knowledge, though, went deeper than just liking to spin decks and mix different sounds. He had an ear for it. He knew how to balance the trebles and the basses and create unique sounds. No one had managed to do what he managed behind the booth. He took on students all the time, and he had some impressive ones, but he still managed to be the best in the industry, especially in Santa Muerta. Blake lost his parents early in life to a deadly plane crash. He was raised instead by a man named Sid Barrett. Sid had managed to keep the young man on the right path as his fame skyrocketed in the area. He'd encountered Tsubaki when he was taking classes in music theory at the local college. She herself was an Operatic singer, but she lacked the confidence to perform. Black seemed to think he could incorporate her vocals one of these days if she'd let him.

"There, there," he muttered and shoved them at her. "Is that all? I still have to check the decks before set up. The controller needs to be set right, and everything's got to go off with a flourish!"

Tsubaki sighed and shook her head as he took off up onto the platform. Tonight was a big day for him. This was a celebration, an elite party/performance to mark Blake's first DJ Award for Techno. He'd been nominated in Trance and House as well, but he was good with taking home one award. He planned to premiere some new styles tonight for those that had made the exclusive guest list. Of course, that guest list had at least two hundred people on it from the press, other music stars, and other DJs that Blake wanted to connect with.

The rest of the afternoon flew by. There were guards on the doors, and several security guard patrolling the outside. Blake, of course, was zeroed in on his set up. The front of the table featured a large black five pointed star with "Black Star" written in electric looking white letters over it. Blake himself had dyed blue hair, and that had always been his trademark look. Sometimes he'd paint blue and black stars over each eye, and his clothes always featured stars of both colors. Tonight he'd done one eye with a black star and the other in a blue that matched his hair. He'd worn one of his flashy outfits. It was an electric blue jacket with black stars down either arm of it. The sleeves were tucked in tight to his wrists, of course. He didn't want to get caught on the decks in the middle of something. He wore black jeans and no shirt with the jacket. The back of it had his logo on it, the black star with electric white writing over it. The black drop was metallic silver and had strobe lighting that spilled out from behind him as he performed. For him, it was more than music. The whole thing was a performance.

He looked up as the lights went to a mid-level. They'd stay there until eight when the show began in earnest. He didn't mingle on the floor until his set was done. There were another DJ that would go on at 10, then he'd take back the decks and do another set at 11 and go until he got tired. That could be two or three hours, though. He loved what he did, and perhaps that's what made him the best at it. He glanced at the computer for the time and saw it was almost 7:30, so not much longer. He smiled as he went over the order he was using, and some of the new mixes he was using tonight. Not all were conventional, but then neither was the great Black Star.

Tsubaki came up and nodded to him so he knew that the doors were closed. He hated to have people walk in mid set. So he leaned over the mic and started for the night.

"Welcome to the Black Star's home and party crib!" he yelled and clapping and yelling ensued around him. "You all came here to see the best, and the best you will see, and hear of course! You know who I am, right?" he yelled.

A chant of "Black Star" came back at him. Even with the elite crowd, they answered him. "That's right, so we're gonna have fun, because not only am I the best DJ, I'm the biggest and baddest one around! And this is the best party any of you have ever been to!"

There was a cheer and the lights dropped. Around the room the strobes, blacklights, and spinning globes lit up and everyone waited in anticipation as Black Star began. He couldn't see well, of course, from behind the stand because the lights were aimed at him. Blake used a DJ Controller set up, preferring the simplicity and portability of it. He could use other set ups, and had on many occasions. He'd learned on a DJ turntable set up with vinyl, which was great, but it just didn't have the customizability and interface he wanted to use. He was about halfway through the set when he noticed someone that seemed lost for a second pass in front of the booth. He frowned and shook it away. Blair was coming up next, so he wanted to move to his finish before long.

From the floor, Maka Albarn was looking for her father. She wanted to find him before he embarrassed her again. If he hadn't already. Her father was probably in a corner making out with his boyfriend, if she didn't miss her guess. Granted, she would be lucky if they weren't making out in the middle of the dance floor, to be honest. She'd lost Declan, but she knew his OCD had kicked in and he had to go find a quiet spot. He'd been getting better lately, but sometimes it flared up and he couldn't handle lack of symmetry. Usually, it wasn't a huge problem, he just had to have things evenly spaced, and he had to take even numbers of objects. Sometimes, though, he got way too overwhelmed by everything. This time it was that the lights were uneven numbers one either side of the room, and he couldn't handle it. She'd sent him off to find a quiet place to relax and then see if he could come back.

Maka was quite happy to have come to this, as she hadn't seen Blake in several years. They'd grown up near each other and had been friends as children. When he moved to Santa Muerta, though, she'd stayed in Santa Cruz. This was the first time she'd had a chance to come here.

She glanced up in looking for him and saw a guy standing looking very lost in the middle of the floor. He was listening intently to the music and watching the DJ. He was wearing a black suit and tie but looked really young. Strangest of all, he had white hair that seemed to stick out everywhere on his head. He seemed almost transfixed there. She smiled because he looked to be greatly enjoying it. She started though as a woman in a slinky black dress grabbed him by the arm and yanked him around. He flinched as she leaned over and said something to him. She had brown shoulder length hair and Maka could see that she was clutching his arm hard enough that he was standing on his toes and looking away as she spoke. She started to go forward but someone blocked her view for a moment. When she got around them, she saw the woman was dragging the young man up the stairs. She frowned. For one thing, she didn't think those rooms were open because they were roped off. She was about to go after when she heard a change in music and Blake introduced Blair, a DJ that was going to spin while he stepped off to mingle.

He made his way down and grinned.

"Maka!" he said and grabbed her in a hug. "You came! Where's your dad?"

"Probably almost having sex with Stein somewhere," she muttered.

Blake snorted. "Oh, he still randy all the time? I can't believe they're still together."

Maka sighed. "Yeah, they love each other. But my dad is so over the top sometimes…I know he's out and proud and stuff, but geeze, he needs to tone it down sometimes."

"Kidd around?" he asked, looking for Maka's longtime boyfriend.

"He had a bit of trouble with the symmetry of your lighting. He went to one of the side rooms for a bit," she said with a smile at him. "Um, but can I ask something, are those rooms up the stairs in use?"

Blake looked toward the stairs. "Nah, those are my rooms. No one's up there right now."

Maka shook her head. "I just saw some woman take this kid up there. Well, dragged is more like it. Some kid with white hair and a suit. He looked scared of her."

"Nah, that's not right. Let me go handle it. Stay here, eh?" he said and took off at a jog toward the stairs.

He ducked under the rope and headed up quickly. No one was supposed to come up here. His room, as well as Tsubaki's and Sid's were up there. He definitely didn't want anyone messing with private stuff. He saw down the hall that there was a guy leaning up against the door of one of the spare rooms and looking bored about it. He had his arms crossed over a broad chest and his brown hair looked rather dull in the light. Blake frowned deeply. That wasn't right. He heard something that almost sounded like someone crying out. Well that wasn't going to do, not in his house. He moved through the hall quietly, more quietly than most people gave the normally loud and obnoxious Dj credit for. He was behind the guy and has his arm around his neck, pressing in on both sides to cut the bloodflow to his brain. He struggled against him briefly, but he couldn't do much besides gasp as Blake lowered him quietly to the floor. He put his ear to the door because he still heard someone inside.

"Come on, you can do it, just let him, you know you want to let him…there. Don't whine, it isn't like you haven't done this before. I just didn't have a camera on you…" a woman's voice said and he heard someone muffled. "Good, good, you think you can manage to get him to lean…there, good…"

"Stoppit…" came nearly muffled voice. "Don…don…"

Well, that was quite enough, Blake thought to himself. He stepped into the room throwing the door back with a loud bang.

"What the hell is this?" he asked as he looked around.

A woman with light brown hair in a black dress was standing on one side of the room with a camera in her hands and was now looking at Blake. On the sofa to by window, someone Blake knew quite well as sitting there. Justin Law, a local party boy who he had invited merely to be nice, was someone that Blake was not fond of. He was sitting with his blue eyes staring in surprise at Blake. The boy on his lap, well half on his lap anyway, was the one that Maka had described. He had pure white hair, and when his eyes fluttered open Blake was surprised to see his eyes were a dark reddish color. He was half undressed and Justin had both hands somewhere down his pants.

"None of your business," the woman said to him and Blake thought she really had no idea how to respond.

"It is my business," he said and moved quicker than Justin or the woman expected.

He pulled the dazed looking boy away from Justin, wrapping one around his shoulders and catching his slacks before they fell off him. He was obviously drugged or something because he was barely able to stand. He stumbled and fell into him.

"Get the fuck out of my house," he said with a very calm sound to his voice.

"He's my responsibility, give him back to me," the woman said and moved toward him.

Blake glared at her. "Like hell he's leaving with you."

"You can't…" she started to say.

"Blake!" came Maka's voice behind him. He didn't turn around. "What…"

"I'll take him, now, Mr. Sterling. Or Black Star, whatever you want to be called," she said. "I'm his guardian."

"No you aren't," Maka said and put both hands on her hips. "I realized where I'd seen him before, Blake. He's a pianist. Soul Evans, I looked it up on my phone while I was down there. And she's just his stage mother. She's not even related to him. He's nineteen anyway. He can do whatever he wants anyway."

"Shut your mouth, girl," the woman growled out. "Soul is mine."

"If you're so concerned with him, what are you doing?" Blake asked, adjusting the boy he was holding. "Letting him fucking rape him in my house?"

She snorted. "He's useless anyway. I was just trying to get my last few pennies out of him anyway. Come on, Justin. I've got better things to do than deal with washed up has beens."

Justin stood and dashed out of the room with her. Blake stumbled with him. "Whoa, come on," he said and Maka ran around and took his other arm, and between them they got him into Blake's room. They dropped him onto the bed and he barely moved.

Maka looked at Blake. "I don't know what we should do…"

Blake shook his head. "Hey, isn't your dad's boyfriend a doctor?"

"I have to find them first, they're probably screwing by now," she muttered as she headed out the door.

Blake sat down beside the nearly unconscious boy. He pulled open his eyes and was amazed at the odd color. He had to be albino or something. No one else had those kind of eyes. He was really pale, so he supposed it could be. He buttoned his slacks back up and then look up as Maka came in looking annoyed. Behind her the tall, serious looking man named Dr. Stein came in followed by Maka's father. Spirit was more than disheveled looking. He had his shirt misbuttoned and his hair was a mess. He tried to tighten his tie up and his suit jacket was hopelessly wrinkled. He didn't look at Maka.

"What do we have here?" Stein said and sat down beside Soul. Soul muttered something incomprehensible under his breath. "Hmm, he's been given something, I can't tell what…his breathing's okay, though, and his heart rates not too fast or too slow. I'd say keep an eye on him through the night and he should be fine by morning."

Blake nodded. "Alright. Maka, can you tell Tsubaki to wind down the party and send everyone off when Blair's done. I'm not coming back down."

"I could stay and keep an eye on him if you want to go down," she said with a frown.

"Nah, he's my responsibility now. He's in my house, and I'll take care of him until I figure out what's going on."

Maka nodded and glared at her father. "And you. The next time I go anywhere with you, I'm putting you in a chastity belt!"

Spirit ducked his head and slipped out or the room. Stein looked back at Blake and winked at him before following them out. Blake frowned and brushed a hand over the white hair. What exactly what going on with this guy, he thought to himself.


	2. The Medusa's Gaze

Chapter Two

The Medusa's Gaze

* * *

A/N: Okay, second chapter. Reminder, I "scaffold" write. That means my first pass is to get the characters to tell me their story. I had someone describe it as scaffolding to me, and I like that. Basically, I run through in a very rough way, stream of consciousness. Then, after I write a chunk (usually five chapters), I go back and make changes. My characters very rarely end up in the same place they begin, so there will always be incongruences and flow problems until I'm finished with edits. Plus, this is my first Soul Eater fic, so it will take me a bit to get the characters right and the story down. Anyway, hope you enjoy the story as I write it! I don't know how much I'll be updating as I've got a December deadline for my first novel (EEK).

* * *

Soul rolled over and groaned as he felt his head threaten to explode. He felt the usual feeling of lethargy that accompanied one of the "bad" nights with Madeline Gordon. He put his hand on his head and hoped he'd actually ended up back in his own bed and wasn't in some weird place again. He wanted to stay asleep. He didn't have to think and he didn't have to do what she asked when he was sleeping. He decided he'd feign sleep for a while longer.

"Hey, you awake?" he heard a voice and he didn't recognize it. That wasn't good.

He picked up his head and looked to see that there was a guy he vaguely recognized standing beside the bed looking at him. "Where am I this time?" he muttered as he rolled over and sat up, putting a hand to his head and wincing.

"What do you mean?" the strange blue haired guy said as he came and sat down beside him.

"I was at a…wait, you're the DJ we came to see, right? Black Star?" he said and turned his oddly reddish brown eyes on him.

"Blake, yeah, Black Star's my DJ name. Maka told me you're Soul Evans, some piano player or something," Blake said with a smile.

"Where is she? She's usually here when I wake up," he said and looked around franticly.

"That bitch that was with you?" Blake said.

Soul nodded. "Wh-where is she?"

"Not here, I kicked her ass out," Black said with a shrug.

"No, you didn't!" he said as he got up. "Oh no, oh no," he said and started wringing his hands. "This isn't good…not at all…she'll send him after me…and my family…oh I have to find her again to keep her from doing anything!" he said as he looked around for his jacket.

"Man, you're not going anywhere. Do you realize what I walked in on last night?" Blake said as he stood up and crossed his arms over his chest.

"What you walked in on?" Soul said and looked at him with wide eyes. "Wh-what did you see?"

"That bitch had you drugged up and was trying to video that little blond bastard Justin was trying to get in your fucking pants," Blake said with narrowed eyes. "What the hell was he doing here? He's like twenty-five, and you're like nineteen, and you definitely weren't into what he was doing."

Soul turned away. "I knew it was going to happen," he muttered as he flopped into the bed again. "I saw him, and she said someone wanted to see me upstairs, I knew…" he said with a deep sigh.

"She's done this before?" Blake said with a concerned frown.

Soul turned away and shook his head. "Doesn't matter," he said as he held his hands up in front of his face. "Doesn't matter at all, I can't play anymore."

"Why not?" Blake said with a frown.

Soul looked at him. "I don't know, I just…I can't do it, after what happened two years ago…" he said with a shudder as he wrapped his arms around himself.

"What happened?" Blake asked. He was very interested in what was causing this boy to be this frightened of that woman. "Maka said that woman, Madeline Gordon, you said, she was your stage mom or something?"

Soul nodded. "She…she was my agent. When I was ten, she was the best choice, she was already the agent for another child star, her own child, Crona. So my grandmother and my brother thought she would make a good choice since my grandmother wasn't able to stay on the road, and my brother had his own tour…he's a violinist."

Blake got up and grabbed a glass and poured some water in it from the carafe. "Okay, so that's well and good, but what the hell is she doing trying to get you fucking drugged up and raped by some party boy in my damned house?"

Soul swallowed and took the water. He sighed. "Wouldn't be the first time," he muttered before he drank it in one long gulp.

"What?" Blake asked and took the glass. "What do you mean? This has happened before?"

Soul looked away. "Don't…don't worry about it, I have to get back before…before she does something bad."

"Look, dude, I can't stop you from leaving, but you shouldn't go back to her," Blake said as he put the glass back on the tray behind him.

"I don't have a choice," he said as he ran his hand over his head. "She…she's got everything that used to be me in her hands."

Blake sat down again beside him. "What do you mean by that now?"

"I…there's so much, videos and pictures, and worse…and if I leave…she'll send them to people, and…I can't…I just can't deal with it…" he said with a sigh. "I haven't been able to play in two years," he said with a sigh. "So…so she just has me do appearances, you know, saying that I'm working on a new album, which I can't, I can't even look at a piano anymore…"

"So she's blackmailing you," Blake said and nodded. "What exactly has she got?"

Soul sighed. "Just bad things. Like you saw. She…she sells a photo now and then, you know, to the tabloids, and makes a bunch of money off it. But if she does it too close together, the demand dies down, but it's enough to keep people interested in a washed up has been like me," he said with a sigh.

"Can't you go to the police?" Blake asked.

Soul shook his head. "No…no…if I do that…"

"What can she do? Release some nasty pictures? Isn't she already doing that?" Blake said with a frown.

Soul shook his head and turned away. "If only that was it…"

"Tell me."

Soul turned back to him. "My…my grandmother…and my brother…she'll hurt them."

"How is she going to do that? She's just some wannabe star who's using you to make money she can't make," Blake said and leaned back on the bed and stared at him.

"Her sister can," he said and bit his lip.

"Her sister?" Blake asked.

Soul swallowed hard and turned back. "Her sister is Anna Gordon. She's known as the Black Spider. She runs the Web."

"The Web? That crime syndicate that's been trying to push into the area here?" he asked.

Soul nodded. "Yeah, and…and she did something terrible to her child Crona…" he said quietly.

"What?"

"She…she…he's dead, that's what…doesn't matter how…and she told me the same thing would happen to me if I tried to leave her, and that she'd make sure my brother and my grandma would die the same way," he whispered as he sat down again. "I can't let them be hurt…"

Blake nodded once and stood up. "Come on, we're going to figure this out right now," he said and grabbed Soul's hand. He looked up at him with wide eyes.

Soul gasped as the other boy pulled him to his feet and led him down the hall to another room where he banged on the door. "Sid!"

The door opened and the tall, dark skinned man glared at Blake. "What is it, boy?" he asked and looked at Soul who stood beside him looking very disheveled and nervous. "There something you need to tell me, son?" he asked with a half smile.

"Yeah, I need help, Soul here's got some trouble. I found his bitch of an agent drugging him up and trying to video tape that asshole Justin Law raping him," he said.

Soul winced and put his free hand over his face. "Can you stop saying that?"

"Well, it's true!" Blake said and glared at him. "I'm not gonna pretend it was anything else! You said yourself it's happened before!"

Soul looked mortified and his face flushed bright red. "Please," he muttered behind his hand. "Just let me go back before something bad happens…if it hasn't already…"

"Whoa, whoa," Sid said, his own brow creasing in concern. "What the hell is going on?"

"Just what I said!" Blake said and sighed.

"Okay, okay, yeah, got that, but that's not enough information for me to help with this," Sid said with a sigh, knowing how worked up his adopted son got. He looked closer at the other boy. "Wait, I know you," he muttered.

Soul seemed to shrink. "I'm sure," he muttered and looked away.

"Soul Evans, right? I remember going to one of your concerts a few years ago, you are some sorta prodigy, you were like thirteen and you played better than anyone I've ever seen. I had to go with the client I was working for then…" he said.

"That was me," he muttered. "I can't play anymore."

"I think that's because of this woman!" Blake said with a frown.

Soul looked down to see he was still clutching his hand and he swallowed. It was weird, to be touched by someone like this. Ever since he'd turned sixteen, things had been worse and worse, then two years ago when Crona… He shivered just thinking of it.

"Alright, Blake, be quiet for a minute, let me look into it. Your manager is that Gordon woman, right?" he said with a deep frown.

"And she's a bitch! She was the one that was trying to video him and that bastard Justin…" Blake started but Soul slapped his arm with his free hand.

"Stop! Just stop!" he said and Blake realized he was about to cry.

"I…I…" Blake started but Soul yanked his hand away and took off running down the hallway to the stairs. "Hey! Wait! Don't go!" he yelled and took off after him. By the time he got to the bottom of the stairs, though, there was a confused Tsubaki sitting on the floor surrounded by scattered papers and staring out the door.

"What the hell, Blake?" she said. "Wasn't that the boy that you had in your room last night? Did you do something you shouldn't, Blake? We talked about that…" she said as she stood up.

Blake's shoulders slumped and he dropped to the floor and stared out the door. "I messed up, Tsubaki…" he muttered.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Soul realized after he'd run for a while he didn't have his shoes and his jacket. He swallowed hard and wrapped his arms around himself. This was bad, really bad, he thought to himself. If Madeline found out he told someone anything, he was dead, or worse, his grandma would be dead… He had been upset, and still groggy, that was the only excuse he had for saying something. But it wasn't like that guy could do anything to help him. She was going to do something terrible, he just knew it. And being videoed with some random party boy was the least of his worries. He wiped away the tears that just wouldn't stop. He had liked someone taking an interest in what was happening, though. He had. But at the same time, the fact that he was concerned about Soul scared him too.

He looked up and realized he'd made it back to Madeline's mansion. He had to go back or else his family would pay the price. He looked up and realized it was starting to rain. He sighed and pushed the button for the intercom by the gate.

"Yes?" came Giriko's voice.

"I'm…I'm back," he said in a shaky voice and the gate opened.

He walked through the rain slowly until he got to the door and found it slung open and Madeline was glaring at him. "About fucking time, you worthless child," she growled and reached out to grab his arm.

"I'm sorry, I just woke up, and that guy…" he started and found himself on the floor with his head ringing.

"You little bastard, what do you think you are?" she said as she reached down and pulled him back up to stand before slapping him hard again. "You know that you come home with me. Always. No matter what. You are mine, remember?" She pulled him into her face closer. "You are fucking mine or you are going to end up crammed into a fucking suitcase and dropped into the bay like that thing I gave birth to, and then I'll send my sister after your dear grandma. And then I'll send all those lovely photos of you being fucked senseless to your brother. What would he think about his little brother then? He already hates you after you told him you didn't want to see him or grandma again."

Soul felt tears pricking his eyes as he listened. He didn't want any of that, none of it. He didn't want them to know what had been going on for the last six years or more with her. He was ashamed of what he'd become even if she had made him do those things. He wanted to see his brother again, and he wanted to feel his grandma's arms around him, but he couldn't. It was a danger to them for him to try to get away.

"Please, I'm sorry, don't…don't…" he said and she smiled.

"I think you're going in the room."

Soul's eyes went wide and he shook his head. "No…please, I don't want to…please…I can't…" he said as she squeezed his arm and drug him toward the other side of the house.

The door was like the rest of them. There wasn't any difference between this room and the rest of them. It was just an empty room. She pulled open the door and dug in her pocket while she held onto his arm. He shook his head as he looked around. It looked so…normal. The walls were painted white with these nondescript black shapes all over them. The ceiling and floor continued the same pattern, so the whole room looked the same. Even the window had been covered over. She let go of his arm and grabbed the back of his neck and even though he knew it wouldn't help, he shook his head and tried not to open his mouth. She smirked at him then worked her thumb into his jaw until he opened and she dropped the small, flat sublingual into his mouth and clamped his mouth shut with her hand.

"Swallow," she said with a smirk.

Soul shook his head and tried not to but she held his jaw closed tightly. "I'm not letting go until you do, Soul."

He felt the sudden spike in his heartrate as his eyes went wide and he swallowed convulsively for a few moments. She let go and he dropped to the floor with his hands splayed behind him. He heard the strange sound of her laughing and it echoed in his mind around the room. The black patterns on the wall began to move and he tried to get to the door but it was closing, locking him into a hellish nightmare. He stood and turned in a circle as the drug hit him full force and the walls began moving and shifting until he couldn't stand.

"No, stop…" he begged as he dropped to his knees.

The shapes began to turn into faces and they were screaming at him and he couldn't make them stop.

 _Pitiful. Look at you, some grandson you are to me…_ His grandmother's face was briefly there then shifted.

 _Soul, how far you fell. You were going to make something of yourself. You were going to be better than me. I guess we found out who was the better brother._ His brother's accusing stare and roll of his eyes.

 _You know you like me to come see you, Soul. You know you do…_ Justin's smirking face floated for a second.

 _So many times, right Soul?_

 _Look at what you've done…look at those pictures and those videos…sick aren't they…a drug addict…a slut…a whore…a party boy…a loser…look at you…you're lost…you're worthless…look at them!_

Soul screamed then and felt the world closing in on him. The voices and the faces just kept spinning and he couldn't escape them no matter what he did.

Matilda smiled and watched the monitor. She walked past Giriko.

"How long before we let him out?" he asked her.

"Three days. He can last that long without food or water," she said with a smirk. "Put the aerosol hallucinogen in through the vents on the usual schedule."

"Do you want to contact your sister about his family?" he asked.

"No need. By the time I let him out, he'll be docile again. He gets resistant now and then. Tell Justin we'll need another public show this coming weekend. I need some fresh pictures for the tabloid if I am to get paid this month, I need a good one though. It has to be believable, more than usual," she said with a sigh and glanced back at the monitor. Soul had settled into a cross legged position on the floor and was rocking back and forth holding his head.

"Just Justin? Or the lot of them?" he said as he looked at her.

She smiled. "Get the lot of them. There's that grand opening of Death City. Perfect place to have a nice bit of public debauchery. His usefulness is reaching its end, though, he's too old to be of interest to most of these rumor mills. Time to burn him down all the way."

"Of course. Shall I have the financial documents readied?" he asked.

"Have him sign when you drag him out. Tell him he doesn't get any food or water unless he does so," she said and nodded. "He'll be ready to do anything by then."

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

"But Maka!" Spirit said as he ran after his daughter. "I'm sorry!"

Maka turned and glared at him. "In the middle of the day! In the kitchen, dad!" she growled.

Spirit's shirt was hanging open and he'd barely gotten his pants buttoned. "I said I'm sorry! I told you to call first!" he said as he buttoned his shirt hurriedly.

Maka put her hands on her hips and stared at him. "Dad, really. Can you and Frank not spend all day fucking?"

"Maka, don't use such language with your father!" he said and dropped to his knees.

"Spirit, get up," Stein said as he came through and pulled him up by his dark red hair.

Spirit whined and stood up and looked at his boyfriend with pleading eyes but Stein kept his hand buried in his hair. "Get yourself together," Stein muttered and threw his head forward as he let go of him.

Spirit ducked his head and frowned at him then looked at Maka. "I am sorry, honey," he said, glancing over at Stein who was not looking at him.

Maka rolled her eyes. "How would you feel if every time you saw me, Declan and I were having sex? Huh?"

Spirit put both hands over his ears. "I don't want to hear about that!"

"See!" she said.

Stein looked over. "How is the boy that Blake had me look at?"

Maka frowned. "I'm not sure. I hadn't thought to check in on him yet…"

She pulled out her phone and dialed Blake. "Yo, Maka," came the expected answer.

"Hey, I was over visiting my oversexed father and Dr. Stein, and he was wondering how Soul was, Dr. Stein, not my idiot father," she said.

Spirit wilted onto the floor and wept a little. Maka rolled her eyes and Stein sighed. "Um, about that…"

"What happened?" she asked.

"Uh, he woke up, you know, and he was sorta freaking out about that woman doing something to his family if he didn't go back, and…I might not have helped matters…" he muttered.

"What did you do, Blake?" she asked and sighed deeply.

"Well, I might have made a big deal out of what Justin was trying to do, and I got mad when he said it hadn't been the first time something like that happened to him, and I just…I took him to Sid and he just ran off," he said and Maka heard the sound of his voice that said he was really sorry for messing up.

"Oh Blake," she said. "What's that witch's name? I'll see if my horndog father and Dr. Stein can dig up something."

"Madeline Gordon," he said with a hesitation. "I don't want to see him get hurt because of what I did. I mean, it was my fault he stayed here."

Maka smiled. "Hey, you did what you had to do. I'll call if I find anything."

"Thanks Maka, you're a good friend, you know," Blake said and the line cut out.

Maka sighed. "My gods, what that boy gets into…"


	3. Coming Down

Super rough draft, trying to get my ideas sketched out for this and it is taking longer than I'd like...

Chapter Three

Coming Down

Blake was excited, of course. It was a big night and this was the first time he was going to play at Death City. However, as he paced backstage during setup, he worried about the piano player. How could he have let him out? He could have made him stay; he should have locked him up or something. He sighed. No, that wouldn't have been right.

Tsubaki sighed as she watched him pace. "Is he okay?" came a voice behind her.

"Oh, hi, Marie," she said as she turned and smiled at Marie Mjolnir. "Um, not really."

She pushed her long brown hair over her shoulder and watched him. "He seems stressed."

Tsubaki nodded then glanced at Marie in full. She was wearing black leather, like completely dressed from head to toe in tight, black leather. She had her eyepatch over her left eye as usual, but otherwise, she was wearing a suit made of tight black leather. She had a tailed whip at her hip on a thong. "What…"

She smiled. "You didn't hear? I'm opening the lower level tonight too. Azusa has the topside in hand."

"Lower level?" Tsubaki said, slightly confused. She hadn't heard about the lower level.

"Oh yes, I'm opening a little Dungeon down there. Just a few pieces of equipment, make a little on the side as a pro Domme, you know," she said with a shrug.

Tsubaki blushed. "Oh, my. Yes, I see. I didn't realize that you and Azusa were doing that sort of thing."

Marie shrugged. "I've invited Stein down after Black Star's show. He seems to think his current boyfriend could use a little discipline."

"Oh…" Tsubaki said and turned away as she tried to hide her own face.

Blake came down. "Hey, Marie. What's with the outfit?" he said, looking her up and down. "It…wow."

"For downstairs, love," she said and winked her uncovered eye at him. "You should come down later, I'll show you around. For now, good luck on your set. I heard you were on most the night tonight."

Blake nodded. "Yeah, supposed to be a massive group coming in. You and Azusa have outdone yourself, I've never seen so many people for this kind of thing. I'm happy that you wanted me here."

Marie narrowed her eyes. "Now, of all the things I've heard about DJ Black Star, being thankful isn't one of them. Something wrong?"

Blake sighed. "Mind's elsewhere, just worried about someone and I don't know any way to deal with it."

Marie nodded. "Break a leg," she said as she jogged down the stairs and left them.

"Are you going to be okay?" Tsubaki asked for the millionth time.

"Yes, just…go on, gotta get on," he said and pushed through the curtain onto the stage. Tsubaki peeked out, hearing the thunderous applause as he went into performance mode. Well, whatever it was, he seemed able to pull out a performance.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Soul didn't know what to expect as he walked into the new club on Justin's arm. Justin was waving and talking to everyone as they walked the corded off area to the doors of the new club, Death City. He swallowed because his throat hurt quite a bit. His head was dizzy and spinning too, from whatever Justin had pushed into his mouth in the car. He didn't even resist it. What was the point? She said that tonight was special. Something about being something to remember.

Justin led him to a large table where several other people crowded on either side, pinning Soul in the center of it. He put his arm around him. "Soul, how are you feeling?" he asked as he watched the others take their seats.

"Fine," he whispered.

Soul jumped as a few people took photos of them at the table. He should be used to this, but his head was so full of bees… The last week had been hell, to be honest. He'd gotten out of "The Room" and spent the rest of it locked in his bedroom.

"You know, I want you to feel good," Justin whispered into his ear so Madeline couldn't hear him. "Don't drink the cosmo," he said and slid his hand between Soul's legs to clutch his thigh.

Madeline smiled as she sat down on the edge, with Giriko sitting near Soul. Mosquito, the weird looking and creepy old man that ran an online tabloid named the "Needler" sat on the other side. Beside Justin, Madeline's other sisters sat drinking their own drinks primly. The music started and Soul frowned, feeling like he should know the voice he heard just then. He stared at the soft red colored drink Madeline sat in front of him.

He looked up to see Justin casually dumped most of the drink into the flower vase in front of them. He left a little in the bottom and pushed it back to Soul. He tipped it up and drank the rest of it quickly. When he put it down Madeline smirked at him. Another drink appeared, something else, and he started feeling even dizzier. After a while, Justin pulled him out onto the floor to dance with him.

"I like you," Justin said as he twirled them away from the Gordon sisters. "You should come away with me," he said as he seemed to be pulling him even further from the table.

"What?" he asked, head clearing just enough to realize what he was saying.

"Just…we leave. Never look back, we could do that," he said as he seemed to be moving him toward one of the exits.

Soul shook his head. "But I can't…my…there's things…" he stammered.

"She's an idiot, wasting something like you," he said and leaned over, pulling him into a kiss.

If his head wasn't so fuzzy, Soul might have considered how odd this was. He was pulled out of his thoughts by someone grabbing his arm. He blinked and saw it was Madeline. "A bit far away, boys," she said and drug him stumbling back to the table, Justin following with an annoyed expression.

Soul phased out a while then sat up. "Oh, sick," he muttered and scrambled out of the booth.

"Go with him," Madeline growled at Giriko as he got left.

Soul hit the door and none too soon as he dropped to his knees and vomited violently into the toilet. He hadn't even eaten anything that he remembered. He sat there for a long moment, head lying on the rim and wondering exactly what was happening. Where did he lose himself? He had, long ago, he realized. He wasn't a person, he was just a creature going through the motions of living. He wondered if it would just be better if he let himself die. He wasn't sure how, though.

"Hurry up," he heard outside the stall. Giriko. He stood up and opened it and looked at him. "Come on."

Giriko grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the bathroom, and nearly into a girl he vaguely recognized. She stared at him as he passed her and he wondered why she looked so familiar. His head was buzzing though and he gasped as he fell into the seat again. He didn't react much as Justin pulled him up into his lap.

"Smile, Soul!" he heard and looked up in time to see Madeline snapping a photo. "Come on baby, this is your last big hurrah, so, let's go big," she said and winked at her sisters, Arabella and Shauna.

Arabella rolled her eyes and got up to mingle, followed shortly by Shauna. Soul did jump when he felt Justin's hands start to roam. He leaned in. "Just leave with me," he whispered again.

He didn't want to do anything but sleep, though. The world was fuzzy, though. And then, he felt something in his hand and he drank it, not really noticing what it was, and the world started to tilt again.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Maka was sure as she hit the stage door. She knew that Blake would want to know he was here. That stupid witch, bringing him to the same place they were at. Now, though, she knew something more. She pulled the curtain aside and waited for a lull when Blake grabbed his water bottle.

"Blake!" she hissed.

Black turned and stared at her. She motioned for him to come down so he nodded. He took a minute to set the autoplay for the next few tracks and came into the back.

"Maka, what's up?" he asked, concern lining his face.

"He's here," she said.

"What?" he said. "That Soul kid?"

"Yes, but this time I know something! I talked to Stein earlier. He's gotten hold of his brother and his grandmother. They're safe, so he can leave her, they're okay!" Maka said. "He's out of it, I saw him coming out of the toilets but he wasn't looking well…"

Black didn't hear much after she said yes. He was already headed down onto the dance floor. He was going to fix this. He had to do it. There was no way he was going to watch someone be mistreated like this, and he really didn't know why he felt like this. He guessed it had something to do with the fact he had a chance to help him and he didn't. He saw the table finally, mostly because he saw Justine's head of blond hair, and then Soul's white hair. He narrowed his eyes and saw that the boy was probably drugged out of his mind already because he was just sitting there, eyes distant, while Justine was pawing at him. There was a click and flash now and then. That witch was taking pictures of him. He wanted to storm closer but he stopped, pulling his phone out and clicking the voice recorder on as he came closer.

Madeline had stood up and went to stand by the tabloid writer that had come with them. He slipped into his sneaking mode, as he called it and approached, unnoticed, behind a group of potted plants.

"I thought you were giving me a live celebrity death," Mosquito growled at her. "That's what you said."

"And you'll get it. He's taken fucking drugs to drop an elephant, no idea why he hasn't passed out yet," she muttered.

Blake held his breath and stayed still. "I don't get why you're doing this, Madeline. Isn't he a cash cow?" Mosquito asked.

"Not anymore, there's no point. He can't touch a piano. No reason to deal with him. Let him burn out and then be done with him," she muttered. "I'll find some other brat that I can take on and use," she said with a shake of her head.

Blake didn't need to hear more, he stepped around where she was talking and then approached the table where Justin was now sitting alone with Soul on his lap.

"What have we here?" he asked out loud.

Justin looked at him. "You, again? Aren't you supposed to be, you know, doing music?" he said with a sigh. "Why can't you leave me and my pretty boy alone."

"Your pretty boy that that woman's trying to kill tonight?" Blake said with a snarl.

Justin stared at him. "I won't let her."

"She's already planning it. Let me take care of it, if you're serious about not wanting him to get hurt," Blake said, glancing over to see that she was still occupied.

Justin, despite appearances, didn't want to see Soul hurt. He was sincere when he tried to get him to leave. He didn't know exactly how to handle the situation, because he wanted to see something change.

"I…It might be too late," he said as he looked at Soul as he leaned against him.

"She's coming back," Soul growled under his breath.

Justin slid out to the dance floor with him. "Come on," he whispered to Blake as he spun into the crowd. Justin kissed Soul's head and then went toward the door, leaving Soul stumbling into Blake's arms.

Blake had no idea what to do now. He guessed downstairs was the best thing until he figured out just what he was supposed to do. He led him stumbling back to the curtain and went down the back stairs, nearly falling several times.

"Blake?" he heard as he fell off the last stair into someone. He looked up to see it was Dr. Stein. He was looking with a curious look. "That's the boy you had at your house."

"Yeah, help, please, that woman is trying to overdose him and I convinced Law to let me take him before she does. She said something to that tabloid bastard about promising him a 'live celebrity death' and being done with him," he said as Soul seemed to wake up a bit.

Stein sighed and looked behind him. "Can you take care of Spirit until I get back?" he asked over his shoulder.

Blake looked behind him and realized that Spirit was completely naked and tied onto some sort of x shaped thing. Marie smiled at him. "Of course, dear, should I continue while you're gone?"

"Of course, he deserves to be punished for his recent behavior," he muttered and shoved his hands into his pockets, heading up the back stair.

"What…what are you doing to him?" Blake asked, seeing that she was walking around it and swatting Spirit with a paddle encased in leather. He would whimper and moan now and then but it sounded like he was muffled.

"Punishing this naughty creature," she said and smiled as she laid a hard few swats on his ass before she put it down and left the red-haired man panting against the cross. "I've been training Stein for the last few weeks in private, but now with the open dungeon…" she said with a smirk.

Blake nodded. "But…he wants you to do that?"

"Yes, sweetie, very much so. He loves a good whipping, and then Stein fucks him until he's practically nonsensical, then lets him have his release finally. All quite therapeutic. We're working on tempering Spirit's…outbursts."

Blake nodded, finding the whole thing interesting since he heard that the place wasn't just a club, but a dungeon too. He tried to stay standing but it was hard with the dead weight that Soul was at the moment. He looked at her.

"Huh, you wouldn't happen to have a stomach pump, would you?" he asked thoughtfully. He knew she had some experience in medicine.

She thought for a second. "Honey, I can't do that here, even if I did have one."

A few minutes later he heard the sound of people coming down the stairs quickly and he looked up to see Maka and Declan rushing down followed by Stein.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" she gasped as she turned her back to her father.

Stein casually walked past her. "It isn't like you were supposed to be down here while he was in this position, Maka, so don't blame him," he stated as he walked around and began unclipping the cuffs on Spirit and moved him off to a side room and shut the door.

Declan looked around and nodded. "This room is nicely symmetrical, though that cross is about two degrees off to the left," he muttered as he ran a hand over his black hair.

Maka sighed and kissed his cheek. "I know, I know. But we have to get you out of here, Blake. Now."

Blake frowned. "What now?"

"That woman is flipping out, and she has that sister of hers that runs that crime syndicate, that Web thing? And she's already walking around asking questions, offering a thousand dollars to the first person who can say where Soul went."

Declan looked up. "My father's house. No way anyone would figure out he was there. Besides, who would walk in on him unannounced, he's the mayor after all," he said thoughtfully. "Plus, we've got plenty of room. I don't stay all the time, but the place is really big. And old. I bet if we needed to, there's places we could hide the boy."

"How are we going to get him there?" Maka asked as he looked up and saw Stein returning with her thankfully clothed father under his arm looking quite calm. She arched a brow. Her father was never calm when he saw her.

"Hi, Maka, beautiful daughter," he said with a grin.

"We'll take him in my van, I'm parked in the back. I'll stay tonight with him and make sure he's okay," Stein said as he ushered the others toward the back as someone started pounding on the door above them and yelling.

"We need to go," Maka said and helped Blake get Soul out the door and into the floor of the van. Spirit had stayed behind. Stein threw a blanket over the four of them and smiled.

"Wait here, have to avoid suspicion," he said as he locked the doors and went back in.

About half an hour later, Stein and Spirit came out and got into the front of the van. Neither acknowledged the four hiding in the back, but they stopped a short time later.

Stein yanked the cover off and nodded. "Declan, go let your father know, we'll get him into the house."

Once they'd gotten the semi-conscious Soul out of the van, Declan Kidd Senior had come out to see what was going on.

"Dr. Stein," he said, his own dark hair brushing his shoulders. Stein always wondered at the man's perpetual porcelain looking face. "Junior says that there's a small issue with a young man…"

Stein nodded. "Yeah, I'll explain, but let's get the boy into a bed and out of the open," he said with a sigh as Blake hefted Soul up and Maka helped steady him. "Sorry for the late hour, I'm sure you were asleep…"

"No matter, come on," Declan Sr. said as he led them up the stairs to a spare room. They got Soul out of the jacket, starched white shirt, and dress pants, leaving him in boxers and an undershirt.

"I'll stay with him, Dr. Stein," Blake said as he adjusted him and pulled the covers around him. "I'll come get ya if there's anything wrong."

Stein nodded and took Spirit's hand. "Come on, let's go down, Maka?"

Maka nodded and followed them down the stairs to give the long explanation to Declan Sr. Black pulled off his stage jacket and used the adjoining bath to take off most of his stage makeup from the night. A few moments later he sat down on edge of the bed, watching Sou thrash a bit. He frowned and then kicked his shoes off. He slid down beside him and put his arms around him from behind and found him relaxing into him.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Soul felt like he was swimming through mud as he tried to wake up. It was annoying, but he was trying so hard to wake up. The last he remembered was sitting at the table with Justin. He groaned and tried to roll but found he was seemingly stuck. He gasped and started to panic. Then he heard music, but not just regular music. It sounded low and haunting and very creepy. He began fighting whatever was binding him and he found it seemed to tighten and he was trying to get away.

"Hey, stop that! You're gonna hurt yourself!" he heard and his eyes shot open.

"What…where…I feel awful," Soul muttered and closed his eyes again. The music was still in the background.

"Hey, come on, I think they've got breakfast if you can eat," the other voice said and Soul turned and stared at someone he'd seen before.

"What? Why are you here? Where am I?" he said as he scrambled out of the bed and bolted for the door.

Blake gasped and jumped up to follow him. He had been afraid he was going to be confused when he woke up…

Soul hit the bottom of the stairs and skidded into the kitchen and stopped and stared at something that didn't belong there.

There was a large table and he recognized the girl with long hair he'd seen before with the DJ. A very tall and imposing man was sitting at some sort of organ and playing something he didn't recognize off the top of his head and there were two young women walking around in really short shorts fixing breakfast. A young dark haired boy sat at the table, and by him, was a waifish figure with short pinkish hair that was staring at him.

"You…no…you can't be here!" he gasped.

Maka turned and stared at him. "Soul?"

"Crona's dead…I saw…what she did…she…she…"

Crona smiled slowly.

"Soul…I'm not dead," Crona said shyly and crossed their arms over their chest.

Soul stared for a long moment and then, just as Blake walked up behind him, he passed out cold.


	4. A New Truth

The day that the world imploded for Soul had been a nice day. It had been a weekend. He remembered that much about it, though he couldn't say what day, or even what time everything happened. It had been the thing that shifted Soul's outlook on his life from one of distant attachment to quiet horror.

Until that day, Soul played. That's what Soul did. He played the piano, and he played it so well that he'd been labeled a virtuoso. He didn't know if that was true or not, but he sure thought the name was cool to have. At first, with Madeline Gordon, he'd done everything because he wanted to succeed, and she offered him the knowledge and ability to push his star higher. Crona was Madeline's child, and Crona was simply not quite as good as Soul. It wasn't that Crona wasn't good; Crona just wasn't a virtuoso.

It started slowly. Really, Soul didn't notice at first. It was little things that began to tip him off about her behavior, primarily round Crona. It wasn't like they ever _did_ anything wrong. They just seemed unable to do things the way Madeline wanted them done. Considering that Crona was actually Madeline's real child, Soul didn't think that things would have gone the way they did. He thought that Madeline would at least love them, not get so angry that the incident happened.

"You're worthless!" Madeline screamed, and Crona cowered in front of her, looking at the floor like they always did. "You can't even get this piece halfway right! Soul doesn't have this problem!"

Soul was sitting at the piano, practicing for the day. It wasn't like it was work to him. He was always willing to practice for any amount of time. He enjoyed what he was doing, so it never seemed like work at all. Crona, though, always had Madeline breathing down their neck, and it showed in the way Crona's hands shook before they took to the piano. Madeline always used Soul as an example of how to do things the right way, or rather the way she wanted them done.

Soul had got used to the yelling early on. He had convinced himself that it was all because she was trying to bring out hidden talent in them. He didn't like to think of the threats to tell his grandmother and his brother that he was refusing to listen now and then. So, he tried hard to listen and do what she wanted. He wanted to make his brother and grandmother proud of him, and the best way to do that was to do as Madeline said. After all, Crona had gone from being a nobody to being someone headlining shows, and so had he. He had fans, and even fan clubs and it was amazingly cool to him.

Since he was ten years old, Madeline was really all he'd known. Doing what she said to make himself be the best that he could. Crona tried but as time went on, Soul excelled far past them in skill. It wasn't their fault; they practiced just as much or more than Soul. Soul just had a natural talent that gave him an edge.

For the last few weeks before the incident happened, Soul had noticed Madeline getting more and more frustrated with both of them. She'd even brought up having her sister come and explain to them the consequences of their actions. Her sister actually scared Soul, and he didn't know exactly why. Usually he was calm and collected and rather laid back, even when Madeline was screaming in his face about something. However, something about Arabella Gordon frightened him from a young age. She just exuded a kind of malice that few people did.

They were in an ocean-front cabin for the weekend; Soul did remember that much about the day. It sat above a rocky outcropping, looking down some cliffs into the surf below. It was a spectacular view from the main windows in the place. It was out of the way, quiet, and most importantly, already equipped with a grand piano. When they came to the nearby venues, they always came to this cabin. Soul wasn't for sure, but he thought it might have belonged to Arabella Gordon. He knew there was no one nearby to hear anything.

Crona had messed up again. Mostly because they were tired. Both Crona and Soul had been practicing into the night before on a duet piece. Crona, though, couldn't seem to stay on the right keys for the life of them. It was a complex piece, and Soul had tried to intercede on their behalf, but Madeline had backhanded him. He was surprised; she had never hit him so hard. His lip was split, and he just sat on the piano bench and watched as she progressed from irritation to rage. It wasn't the first time, but this time it felt different. She had never seemed this unhinged before.

Then she struck Crona. The first time, it was across the face. Then Madeline just seemed to let go completely, striking Crona again and again. Soul tried to stop her, only to have Giriko pull him back and hold him. He screamed at her that she was going to kill Crona if she didn't stop. She didn't stop.

When it was over, Crona wasn't moving anymore and Madeline finally realized what she'd done. Instead of any kind of remorse, she grabbed the nearest suitcase and tossed everything out of it, then shoved Crona into it.

"Drop it over the cliff," she told Giriko. "Crona disappeared, didn't they, Soul?"

Soul was dropped from Giriko's grip and he watched as he took the suitcase and rolled it out the door to do as Madeline had demanded.

He would never forget the next thing that happened. She kneeled down in front of him where he'd fallen to the floor and took his chin in her hand.

"You won't say anything about it, because if you do, or if you try to leave, I'll have my sister track down your precious brother or grandmother and dispose of them. You are mine now."

That was the beginning of the end for Soul. After that day, he couldn't touch the keys without starting to shake uncontrollably. He just couldn't do it after that. Madeline didn't care. His previous shows were enough, and his fame was already set. Then the drugs started, and Soul was almost glad of it; it let him forget what he'd seen and let him sleep for once without dreams.

Then she introduced him to Justin Law. It had been a year since Crona's death, and there was a demand for him to perform again. That's when Madeline had an idea of a way to get as much out of Soul as she could, and it was by using her contacts with the Needler tabloid. People loved reading about a fallen child star, and it wouldn't take much to convince people that something was happening to him. Justin had come over to one of their parties that Madeline was always throwing. Immediately, he'd been enamored with Soul.

He had no idea what he'd taken the first time it happened. He just recalled suddenly coming to consciousness and not knowing what was happening to him. He'd been scared, in pain, and confused, but Justin told him to relax and it would be over soon. It wasn't soon enough.

After that, it became a regular occurrence, until he was shown in pictures in compromising positions with Justin. As Justin was known as a party boy, it was gossip that the tabloid loved. It sold copies to find out that the once virtuoso pianist was laid so low as to be into sex, drugs, and alcohol with someone like Justin Law.

Soul lost his will to fight it at some point. He realized no matter what he did, he was stuck. If he tried to get out, Madeline would do something to his brother or grandmother. After all the horrible things that had been leaking out a little at a time about him, he couldn't risk them any further. She owned him, and that was all there was to it.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

"Soul!" he heard and blinked as light shined in his eyes from somewhere. "Soul!"

He reached out and tried to swipe away whoever was trying to blind him. Then he realized he was on the floor looking up at the lights on the ceiling. He groaned and felt a throbbing behind his eyes and knew he was going to have a spectacular headache soon.

"Soul?" a quieter voice asked, and Soul turned his head to confirm that yes, that was indeed Crona. Crona who was dead. Crona who was thrown into the ocean. Crona who couldn't be here.

He was in someone's lap and staring up at Crona now. "H-how?"

"That's a bit of a story," came the voice of taller dark-haired man at the organ. So that would the source of the haunting melody earlier.

"Come on, get up here on a chair," he heard and looked over to see he was on Blake's lap. He nodded and let Blake help him get vertical again.

Soon, he had a hot cup of coffee in front of him and a plate of breakfast as well. The girl from before was there, and a young guy with black hair marked with white streaks. There were two other women in the kitchen preparing food for everyone.

"I don't understand," Soul finally managed as he looked at Crona, still in a state of shock.

"The Kidds saved me," Crona said.

"I'm Declan Kidd, Sr. I'm the mayor and we often go out on weekend yacht trips. We were out doing some sport fishing and diving when something snagged on our line. We just thought it was something big. Liz and Patty here dove in and found we'd hooked a suitcase. When we pulled it out, we found poor Crona inside, very nearly dead. We got them to a hospital immediately, and after some care, they were as good as new!" Kidd, Sr. said as he took a sip of his coffee.

Soul stared into his cup and was dumbfounded, honestly. He couldn't seem to wrap his head around what he was hearing. He'd spent the last two years thinking Crona was dead and fearing what Madeline could do to him or his family if he did anything against what she said. Everything was a mess in his head right then.

"So, this is good news, right?" Blake asked, and Soul realized he was sitting right beside him. "Crona's alive, so that's good, right?"

"Yeah, that's wonderful, actually, but I still can't believe it." He turned and stared at Crona. "Have you been here the whole time?"

Crona nodded. "Yeah, it's been nice. I can't stay inside too long without getting anxious, though. I spend a lot of time in the pool house because the floorplan is nice and open. Either that or I sleep on the pavilion under the stars. I just can't stand small spaces anymore."

"I can understand why," Soul said and stared at them for a long time. "She said that she was going to do the same to me if I didn't do what she said. She said she'd have my brother, or my grandmother hurt by that sister of hers. I tried to go on like normal. But I couldn't play after that day. I haven't been able to play since then."

Crona leaned forward and put a hand on Soul's where it rested on the table. "Oh, Soul. I'm so sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" Soul asked, staring at Crona's hand like it would disappear any minute. "You didn't do anything; she did."

"I know, but what happened affected you a lot, and for that I'm sorry. I wondered how you were, but I never heard any news about you," Crona offered.

"You weren't looking in the right place," Soul muttered, dropping his head and staring into his lap.

"It doesn't matter now, cause you're both safe now. So, she can't get to you anymore. We'll take care of you!" Blake said emphatically.

Soul looked at him and smiled slightly. "But my family…"

"Is fine," Maka added, leaning toward him. "I checked into that, and they're fine. They're on a tour for your brother right now. They have been told what happened, and they know you're safe. They're going to be just fine."

Soul looked at her and felt like he was almost wanting to cry. They had already done so much for him, and it was just amazing they would do all of this for some stranger that came into their lives by accident. He still was amazed that all these people happened to know each other and could reunite him with Crona. Madeline would be incredibly angry if she found out that Crona still lived even though she thought she killed them.

"We should do something to find out if we can help Soul anymore," Kidd, Jr. said as he sat down, putting his utensils evenly on either side of his plate.

"What else should we do?" Maka asked, looking over at Kidd Sr.

"Well, I think it would be a good idea to launch an investigation into this woman and her antics. I have just the team to do it, too," Kidd Sr. said as he pulled out his phone and started texting someone. "They should be here soon."

Soul still couldn't believe that this was happening. He was finally free of Madeline? He just was still worried it was all a dream and things would just evaporate at a moment's notice. "Why are you doing all this for me?"

Everyone just looked at each other and back at Soul. It was Blake that spoke up first, though. "Because, dummy, you need the help!"

Soul looked over at him and smiled. He had to admit, Blake's enthusiasm was infectious. He could see why he made such a good DJ. He wiped his eyes before tears could fall because in the last ten or so years, he hadn't experienced something like this before. Everyone around him cared what happened and wanted to help him. All for nothing in return, which was amazing for him to see.

After breakfast, Patty and Liz cleaned off the dishes and Kidd Sr. went back to playing on the large organ. Soul watched intently until he turned and looked at him. "Would you like to play?"

Soul blinked, looking down at his hands and swallowing hard. Could he play?

"Go ahead, I heard you were good before you stopped playing, I wanna hear it!" Blake said as he came back in the room from wherever he'd gone after he ate.

Soul got up slowly and went and took a seat in front of the organ. He'd never played much on organs, but it wasn't a whole lot different from the pianos he used to play on all the time. He put his hands on the keys, shaking a bit as he did so.

"You can do it, Soul," Crona said, appearing suddenly beside Blake as he leaned on the side of the organ. "I play now and then still. I like it now because it's fun. Just play something for fun."

Soul nodded, closing his eyes and letting the feeling come over him again, the immersive sensation of letting himself go to the keys that his fingers danced upon. Finally, he took a breath and began playing the same piece that he'd heard when he woke up that morning. Bach's 'Toccata and Fugue in D Minor' had been something he'd played once or twice, but never really practiced much on. He let his heart go into the music and played for the first time in two years.

When he was done, everyone was silent for a minute until Blake broke the silence. "Whoa, you are good…"

But Soul felt tears now and he didn't stop them. He could still play. He could. He covered his face with his hands and felt someone put an arm around his shoulders and just hold him. It was so nice, to feel that someone was beside him again, that Crona wasn't dead, and that he could still play if he wanted to. If _he_ wanted to play, not if he was told to play. He put his hands in his lap and took a deep breath, getting his emotions under control again.

"Breaking down like this is so not cool," he whispered.

Blake, the one who was sitting beside him, squeezed his shoulder and leaned into him. "Your playing is really cool. You should play while I DJ around you, it would be amazing! I bet you can improvise like crazy!"

Soul looked at him and gave him a sad smile, not bothering to hide the tears on his face anymore. "I can do pretty well," he answered.

Just then, the doorbell rang and everyone, especially Soul tensed. Kidd Sr. stood up and headed to the door, waving at everyone to settle down. He answered it and found two men waiting, one a dark skinned man with black hair, the other a lighter skinned man with brown hair with a spike over each temple waiting at the door. It was Ox Ford and Kilik Rung that Kidd Sr. had texted earlier. "Come in," he said and waved them both into the house.

"Didn't expect a message from you this early. What's going on?" Ox asked, running a hand over his brownish hair.

"Well, I have a mission for the team," Kidd Sr. said and gestured the two men to come and sit down at the table. Soul and Blake were still sitting on the organ bench.

Kilik looked between Ox and Kidd Sr. "So, what's going on?" he asked.

"I want you to investigate Madeline Gordon. Find out what you can about her, and her relations with Crona Gordon and Soul Evans, and these sisters of hers. See what you can find out and come back to me," he told them.

Kilik nodded. "I think we can do that. Anything in particular you want us looking for?"

"Anything that we can hold against her legally. We have Crona and Soul to testify in person to what happened to both of them, but it would be best to have some hard evidence. I understand that Justin Law has also been involved with her, and the owner of the Needler," Kidd Sr. told them.

Ox pulled out a phone and started making notes about the names. "Okay, we'll see what we can did up."

"Thank you, and keep it hush, only your team should know anything about what you're doing," the mayor said. "Before you go, I was wondering if you are going to be in any of this season's productions?"

"Ah, I haven't decided yet, Mayor. I'm sure you'll be there, of course," Kilik said as he stood up.

"Of course," Kidd Sr. said and stood up with Ox and led them both to the door.

As they walked off, Soul looked at Maka who was standing nearby now. "Season's productions?"

"Yeah, he's in the theater. That's actually how me and Declan met; my father was in the same theater company with the Mayor," Maka explained.

Soul nodded, turning back to the keys and staring for a long time.

"Hey, you okay?" Blake asked, bumping his shoulder into Soul.

"Yeah, just still getting over everything changing so quick. I'm still afraid she's going to show up and everything is going to go back to the way it was before," Soul explained.

"That won't happen," the Mayor said with a smile as he returned. "You're protected here. And I'll make sure your family is too."

Soul didn't know what to say, but he was grateful beyond words for what these people were doing.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Justin sat alone in the small apartment and wondered whatever happened to Soul. He picked up his phone to see another message from Madeline.

 _I know you know where he is. Tell me._

He didn't, though. After he handed him off to that DJ, he had no idea where they disappeared to. He was regretting it already, though. He had to admit to having grown attached to the boy over the last couple years. He didn't take the position of being his "toy" to be as flippant as Madeline thought he should. Soul, to her, was a vehicle to get money and fame out of him. Justin had grown to feel a little more for him in that time.

He was going to get him back again. He just had to try a little harder this time.


End file.
